What's Wrongwith the Prong?

Prong collars HURT! And in turn, they hurt your relationship. Studies show that dog owners that use aversive equipment such as prong collars have diminished bonds with their dogs, and are less satisfied with their dogs’ behavior.

Prong collar-related injuries are quite common. The skin on dogs’ necks is significantly thinner than human skin. Prong collar injuries range from skin punctures to spinal cord problems and even crushed tracheas. Prong collars are designed to inflict pain and cause discomfort. Numerous studies have shown the harmful effects of correction-based training methods such as prong collars.

If pain is experienced every time your dog attempts to greet another dog or move toward something while out on a walk, soon your dog will associate the presence of dogs or other stimuli with pain and discomfort, leading to increased fear, reactivity and aggression. Furthermore, these collars do nothing to train your dog what behaviors to perform, they only tell him what not to do, using pain and fear.

Despite what some trainers or pet store employees might say, prong collars are not safe or humane. There’s no good reason to use them when many humane, effective alternative walking equipment options exist.